Vettori announced his retirement from all forms of international cricket following the 2015 Cricket World Cup.[2] On April 2, 2015, Vettori signed a 3-year contract to become head coach of Brisbane Heat, effectively ending his playing career in all forms of the game.

Vettori has three 10 wicket hauls in Test cricket, against Sri Lanka, Australia and Bangladesh. His best innings figures were achieved at Auckland in 1999–2000 against Australia where he took 7/87. He finished with career best match figures in that game, taking 12/149. They are the second best ever by a New Zealander, with only Richard Hadlee having taken more in a match. With another 12 wicket effort, against Bangladesh in Chittagong, he became the only New Zealander to have taken a dozen wickets in a Test on two occasions.

He is the bowler to have most frequently dismissed Shane Warne in Tests, getting him out nine times, most notably for 99 in a Test at Perth. Ironically, in the 1st Test against Pakistan in 2009–10 season, Vettori was himself dismissed for 99,[5] while chasing a world record in centuries batting from position number 8.

Prior to becoming captain on a permanent basis in 2007, Vettori had captained the Black Caps in ODI cricket on occasions such as when regular captain Stephen Fleming was not available. As of the end of 2006, he had led New Zealand in 11 games, winning eight of them.

He captained New Zealand at the inaugural Twenty20 World Championship in South Africa.[6] Subsequently, it was announced that Vettori would captain the Black Caps in all forms of the game: Twenty20s, ODIs and Tests. Initially, he was announced to only be captain of the former two.[7]

Vettori's captaincy had a rocky start, losing a Test series in England first up. Vettori also attracted some criticism in the following ODI series when he engaged in angry shouting from the balcony at The Oval, regarding a controversial run out that had occurred. He then refused to shake hands with the England team after the match.[8] This contrasted with Fleming's more languid, laid back style.[9]

Vettori stood down from the captaincy and retired from One day Internationals and Twenty20 Internationals after the 2011 World Cup. However, he was called back into the ODI team for the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy.His name is included in the final 15 of the New Zealand team for the 2015 Cricket World Cup to be held in Australia and New Zealand.[10] By that point, he retired from test cricket after his final test match was as an emergency injury cover against Pakistan in November, 2014.

Vettori has matured into a useful lower-order batsman, having scored 4,000 Test runs, including six centuries (110 against Pakistan in 2011, 134 against Pakistan 2009, 140 against Sri Lanka 2009, 138* against Pakistan in 2003, 127 against Zimbabwe in 2005 and 118 against India in 2009) as well as 23 half-centuries. Although it took Vettori 47 Tests to score his first 1,000 runs at an average of 17.24, the second thousand took him just 22 Tests at a rate of 42.52 per innings.

In December 2006, Vettori began establishing himself as more of an all-rounder, batting at number 5 for New Zealand in the one-day series against Sri Lanka.

On 4 December 2009, despite the Black Caps only scoring 99 runs against Pakistan, Vettori became the highest Test run scorer batting at no.8 spot, a record previously held by Shane Warne.

After suffering a dip in form of batting in 2010 Vettori scored a century against Pakistan when he made 110 as New Zealand's lower order resisted to help post a total of 356 all out.[11] Vettori averages a career 30.60 but his average jumps to 57.9 against Pakistan against whom he has three of his six centuries.